Just Like Jazz
by LisaDouglas
Summary: Young Fiona's new husband isn't what he seems. AU set in 1984/Faxeman.
1. Strictly Supreme Business

Chapter One- Strictly Supreme Business

June 1984

"Nothing's ever going to be the same again, now is it?" Fiona confided, kissing her sleeping baby's cheek softly.

Misty sighed, her head slumped over to the side, reminding her Mother that she was fast asleep and couldn't really understand what she was saying anyway. But then again, that was Fiona's point in talking to Misty: she couldn't understand.

"Mommy doesn't really know what she's going to do…" Fiona confided. "Without your Daddy..."

It was late at night and Fiona had gotten her baby out of her crib because she couldn't sleep. She was lonely and needed someone to cuddle and talk to, someone who would never tell her secrets. Eighteen-month old Misty Goode was just perfect for that.

Fiona had barely been able to pull herself together since it had happened. She'd spent the last few nights drinking herself into a stupor because she couldn't face the reality of it…it had only been yesterday, when she'd been too hung over to help deal with her husband's final affairs, that she'd realized she needed something totally different to comfort her. And that night, that something different was her baby girl, Misty.

"I know no one sees it this way…especially not your big sister but…Mommy's really hurting Misty…I've never loved anyone like I loved your Father and I never will again…" She said, playing with Misty's blonde curls. Misty sighed and Fiona sniffled.

"That's why Mama's going to go on a trip tomorrow, Misty. On Supreme business." She lied.

The trip wasn't on Supreme business…it almost never was. It was always personal and purely for fun. Fiona used her position as Supreme as an excuse to forego other responsibilities, like being a Mother, something her husband had never tired of reminding her of when he was alive.

"Maybe it will help Mama get her mind off of it all huh?..." Fiona paused. "What did the two of ya do to deserve a Mother like me?" She had to ask. Fiona's never uttered this secret fear to anyone before, not even her husband.

Fiona secretly worried about this. She knew she was a horrible Mother and hated herself for it. It was what accounted for her strained relationship with her older daughter, Delia, and what she knew would eventually ruin the bond she had with the baby. That's one reason why she was holding her and whispering to her late at night…she was loving her while Misty would allow her to, knowing that sooner or later, she would come to hate her as Delia did.

The truth was that Fiona actually loved her girls more than anything, in the whole world. But, she couldn't sacrifice enough of herself to make that love count for them, no matter how hard she tried. Her husband had been the glue that had held their family together. He was a sweet man who lavished his daughters with the kind of love that their Mother tried to convey, but which was lost in translation. What had amazed Fiona, was that had loved and understood her despite all that. In fact, no one had ever loved or understood her in the way he had.

Fiona was understandably devastated at the loss of such a wonderful man, one who'd been her best friend and her lover. She didn't think she would ever be able to love a man in the same way again…Most importantly though, she had no clue how she was going to raise these girls without him. They certainly wouldn't grow up the way they deserved to grow up. Fiona's deepest fear now, one she would never even utter to a sleeping Misty, was that they'd grow up not ever feeling loved by anyone.

"You had the most wonderful, dedicated Daddy in the whole world, did you know that Misty? The same can't be said for your Mother. You didn't deserve to loose him…it should've been me." Fiona admitted, tears streaming down her cheeks.

…

Delia Goode sat unnoticed under the black baby grand piano in the entry room, hugging her legs tightly and watching as the maid helped her Mother with her coat.

"Delia, where are you…come say good-bye to Mama!" Fiona called.

Delia elected to stay hidden and just stare…she couldn't believe her Mother was leaving after what had just happened. The decision solidified the hate she already felt in her heart for her Mother. Daddy had been the one she'd loved. "Mama!" Misty squealed excitedly. Delia watched as her baby sister laughed and pointed up at their Mom.

"Good-bye Misty my darling." Fiona smiled, picking her up and kissing her cheek. "Mama will see you in a couple of weeks, alright?...Delia, I'm giving you another chance to say good-bye."

"Bye Fiona." She mumbled under her breath.

"Mrs. Goode, your plane leaves in less than an hour. We best be leaving expediently." Her driver informed, peaking his head inside the door. Fiona sighed.

"Very well." She said, kissing Misty's cheek a second time. "Good-bye my little witch babies." She said, handing Misty to the maid.

Misty didn't understand and wanted her Mommy. She was angry and confused and began to scream as soon as her Mother handed her off.

"Oh good-bye sweetheart; it's alright." Fiona soothed, waiving as she walked out the door.

The maid put a sobbing baby Misty down and left the room as soon as the door shut. Delia crawled out from under the piano and opened her arms for her baby sister who ran into them.

"Mama!" Misty reached hopelessly for the door.

"Good-bye Fiona." Delia said, hugging her sobbing toddler sister. "I hope you die too."

Misty's sadness changed to anger in the next few moments, she narrowed her little eyes as she gazed toward the door. The last few days had been confusing for her. She had no idea where Daddy was she looked for him everywhere and now here Mommy was, leaving her at a time like this!

"Ahhhhh!" Misty shrilled and began punching her little fists in a fit of rage as she started to cry again.

Delia quickly ducked under the piano and covered her ears, knowing now what was coming. Delia and her Father had never been totally sure how she did it exactly, but Misty seemed to be coming into her powers at an exceedingly young age. They'd only recently discovered that her toddler rage could cause glass to shatter and they'd even more recently realized that she could make things fly across the room: something that only much older witches could usually do.

Once the storm had calmed and the room was covered in broken glass, Delia crawled back out from under the piano. Misty was still crying and was even more confused. All she'd wanted was her Mom and now everything was broken, even she didn't understand how that happened….Delia pulled the baby back into her arms.

"Misty remember what Daddy told you? Huh? He said not to do that." Delia reminded tearfully. "He said it would make Mommy really, really upset because she knew you had power and that you had to stop."

"Dada?" Misty asked, sucking on her fingers now, she looked around anxiously for any sign of him.

"No! No Misty he's _NOT_ here. He's not here…." Delia paused after saying it a second time as to allow it to fully settle in her mind. She sniffled and wiped the tears away from her eyes as she continued. "But you can't do that. He said it would make her real upset. And I don't care if she gets upset, you shouldn't either…but then there's Daddy. We need to do what he says even though he's not here, understand? Daddy said no."

Misty looked back up at her sister, deeply confused.

"Please Misty." Delia begged, hugging her sister tight. "I'm afraid she'll hurt you if she thinks you're the next Supreme… I know that must be why Daddy said it should be a secret…she'll get real scared and upset if she knows how powerful you are…a-and you can't let that happen because you're all I have left."

…

There were a number of reasons why Fiona was supremely unhappy with the way things had been in the short time since her husband had died. For one thing, she was aware of her daughter's burgeoning powers (although her husband had had no idea she knew) and she wondered how she would deal with them without him there to help her.

In truth, she was upset about her daughter's apparent abilities. Even she, the most powerful Supreme in history, had not been nearly as gifted with her powers at Misty's age. Surely, the toddler's skills posed a threat to her…at the same time; Fiona couldn't deny the sense of maternal pride that arose in her at the thought that her daughters, both of them, were as powerful or even more so, than she. She knew that certainly, she'd produced the next Supreme in one of those girls…and that met that her time on this earth was going to be cut short by one of them.

Fiona couldn't describe the kind of emotion that that brought out, or how much it confused her. It made her scared to death and immensely proud at the same time. And it caused her to have a deep seeded hate for the two people she'd brought into the world and loved more than anything…the only thing that had balanced that for Fiona was her husband….how was she supposed to go on without him?

Fiona didn't like the idea, but she decided she was going to move on quickly and find someone new to share her life and raise her girls with….Before she'd left the house, she'd decided she was going to start moving on…on this very trip. Fiona quietly admitted to herself that no one could ever take the place of the man she lost. She wanted to sniffle for a moment but cut off the emotion quickly, not allowing it to register let alone overtake her. She straightened her black pencil skirt and adjusted herself in her seat as she heard the plane's engines turn on.

The aircraft was preparing to take off and the seat next to her in the first class cabin had not been taken. Fiona smiled to herself, thinking it might be nice to sit alone for a transatlantic flight. She sighed and closed her eyes, laying her head back. She hadn't let herself have time to just sit and think, not while not holding a child, and certainly no while sober…. it took mere seconds for her to realize she didn't much like it.

Fiona couldn't kid herself. She gripped the edge of the seat, her eyes still closed, wishing the man she'd lost were next to her, his hand holding hers as they took off to go to Paris. Fiona sighed, deciding that she would return to her premarital, philandering ways instead of grieving for much longer. Yeah. Fooling around. That would certainly bring her some much-needed peace. There were nice, wealthy eligible men everywhere, right?

"Your seat, Mr. Renard." Fiona opened her eyes when she heard the steward direct someone to the seat next to her.


	2. The Truth About Delphi Trust

Ch 2- The Truth About Delphi Trust

Two Months Later

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Misty squealed, running toward the front door as it opened. The toddler was extremely excited that her Mother was home and couldn't wait to see her.

"Had to come home, didn't you Fiona?" Cordelia muttered, she sat under the baby grand piano where she'd taken to hiding. She was angry and it showed, she played roughly, but absentmindedly, repeatedly flicking the slingshot she'd stolen from her new stepbrother's bedroom. "You brought _him_ home, to live happily ever after, as if Daddy never existed." She spat bitterly under her breath.

In addition to everything else; Cordelia did not like her new Stepfather, Harrison Renard. His presence gave her an overwhelmingly eerie feeling, that she could not shake.

"Hello Princess." Fiona cried, leaning down to lift baby Misty into her arms. "Mommy missed you. Delia!"

"Yes where is Cordelia?" She heard Harrison, inquire. Delia watched carefully as he and Fiona made their way into the house and up the stairs, Misty on their Mother's hip.

"Oh Cordelia…" Delia stopped when she heard Hank come up behind her, mocking her Mother's voice.

'Oh no.' She said to herself. 'He found me.'

Cordelia, Misty and Hank had been all alone in the house with a very inattentive nanny for three weeks, while their parents honeymooned. That time had been absolute hell, especially for Cordelia, as Hank, a boy two years her senior, had proven to be anything but brotherly. The boy had used the time alone with his new, younger stepsisters, to torture them; having done almost every cruel thing to them he could think of, even to the baby. He'd locked them outside, gotten them struck in their tree house when he climbed down and took their ladder away, and worst of all, he'd gotten in the habit of waking them up in the morning by throwing his two pythons on them…something that particularly scared Cordelia.

Delia turned around quickly when she heard his voice calling, seeming to tease her, and prepared the slingshot. She smiled, closing one eye and beginning to focus on her target as she aimed the slingshot.

"Ahhhh!" Hank yelped, grabbing himself and falling on the floor. "Oooowww."

"Hank?" Harrison asked as he rushed back down the stairs, Fiona and Misty in tow.

"Dad!" Hank cried, sill holding himself. "Ohhh. Delia hit me with the slingshot!"

"Delia!" Fiona was surprised. "He's…"

"He deserved it!" She said, jumping out from her place on the other side of the piano.

"Delia that is enough, say you're sorry!" Fiona said, grabbing her daughter's hand.

"No!" She yelled, watching as Harrison helped his son back on his feet.

"I've had just enough with you, I'm not home five minutes and look what happens!" Fiona grabbed Delia's hand and dragged her up the stairs.

In fact, Cordelia had been quite a handful lately. Two months earlier, her Mother had announced she was going to marry Harrison Renard, a man she'd met on an airplane soon after her husband passed away. Delia had been rude and distant with her Mother even prior to her own Father's death, and now, she was impossible, being willfully disobedient at every turn.

"Sit down!" Fiona commanded, forcing Cordelia to sit on her bed with a flick of her hand. She put the baby on the ground and let her go over to the toy box in the corner of her sister's room.

"What are you going to do when he finds out about that, Fiona?" Delia crossed her arms. Fiona, you see, had not told Harrison that she was a witch.

"I'm your Mother. You'll call me that."

"I'm an orphan!" She spat.

Fiona was angry and slapped Delia across the face, causing the young girl to begin to cry.

"O-oh honey I'm so sorry…." Fiona stopped, surprised by her own action.

Fiona was at the end of her rope, not just with Delia, but because her honeymoon with Harrison hadn't been ideal. Something about the man she'd married put her on edge and she didn't know what it was just yet.

"Go away!" Delia yelled.

"No, no baby, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please." Fiona begged, getting on her knees in front of her daughter. Delia sniffled and put her arms around her Mother's neck, resting her head on her shoulder.

"I want my Daddy." She admitted, continuing to cry.

"Oh baby." Fiona sat on the floor now; she pulled Cordelia off the bed and into her arms. "I want your Daddy too." She ran her fingers through Delia's hair as she sobbed.

Misty grew concerned and dropped her toys, toddling back over to her Mother and sister. Fiona pulled her into the hug as well.

"You do?" Delia asked. "I thought you forgot him."

"No, no honey…I could never ever forget him."

Fiona buried her head in her older daughter's hair, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She felt sad and desperate too but wasn't about to admit that something was wrong.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Harrison Renard was having a talk with his son, Hank.

"Are you alright, son?"

"I have news for you Dad." The boy informed.

"Oh?" He smiled. "Been working on that project I asked you to think about while I was gone?"

"Of course."

The sisters had made it easy and fallen right into his trap.

"They're witches for sure!"

"How do you know? The most essential element to witch-hunting, Hank, is to first, be certain."

Hank knew because of Misty. Delia defended herself through human means, like the slingshot, but Misty, the baby, always pulled some kind of trick he wasn't ready for and never would've expected. Take his pythons for example. He'd thrown both of his pet snakes on his stepsisters as they slept the other morning. Cordelia had started screaming and crying and tried to climb a bookshelf in her room to get away from it. Misty, however, had been able to control the animal. In fact, it was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

While Cordelia could barely move it enough to get out of bed with it, and free herself of it's grasp (it's a python, remember, so it had a powerful grip; one that could easily kill two little girls), Misty had been able to grab the snake with little effort. He watched from just outside her door as she squeezed it tightly, almost seeming to strangle it. She giggled like crazy as she repeatedly banged its head against the side of her crib and tossed it over the side…

"Ba snakey!" She had squealed, clapping excitedly as she watched it plummet to the floor.

Hank was a ten-year-old boy, and he was not strong enough to do that to the snake. Misty was still in diapers and had nearly killed the thing.

"Humm…"

Harrison paused, listening to the story. It was all just as he had expected, from far before he ever met her in person, from before her husband died actually…In fact, Harrison and his band of merry witch-hunting brethren, had been tracking Fiona very carefully since 1971, the year she became 'The Supreme.' Because the witch was too busy partying to tend to her coven and her obligations, she had not noticed that she was being targeted. Now that they'd been lying in wait for years, it was almost time to strike.

"Interesting…." He said.

Harrison didn't elaborate and tell his son the full details of this, deciding that the boy didn't need to know they'd been plotting this longer than he'd even been alive. Harrison did, however, laugh to himself. He never would've thought Fiona would be so stupid as to marry him, not realizing who he was.

"Very good my boy." He said instead, patting his son on the back. "Now it will only be a matter of time, before we put our plan into action."

….

Fiona was happy to get the girls to bed and even happier that even Delia seemed glad to have her home…deep down, that was. The two had bonded earlier in the day over grief. Cordelia had made her Mother realize that neither of them would ever really finish mourning for the girl's late, Father. And while they wouldn't admit it, they felt better in each other's company than they did apart.

But now that the children were out of the way for the evening, Fiona's mind drifted back to her worries about her new husband. Perhaps she'd married Harrison a little bit too prematurely? She'd met him on a plane several months before and the two seemed to quickly hit it off. At the time, Fiona had been lonely and relished in the comfort and the fun she seemed to have with him. But now, her logical side, and her powerful side, the part of her that was the Supreme, was taking over again and she realized how stupid it was to marry a man she barely knew, especially when she was such a powerful woman. It was dangerous and ordinarily, she would've known that. Fiona sighed, tying her black silk robe and walking into her office.

Perhaps it wasn't too late to get this all annulled? But was uncertainty really a reason to do that? He hadn't done anything to her…had he? Other than give her an eerie feeling she couldn't shake; which, for her was difficult to do. There'd also been a small incident on their honeymoon Fiona could not stop thinking about…several, actually. She didn't know much about him; but by proxy, he didn't know much about her, or he wasn't supposed to. She'd told him she was a widow with two young daughters, and like him, very wealthy. Other than that, not much else had come to the surface. She hadn't, for example, told him that she was a witch, or the queen of the witches, or that she was very distraught over her husband's death, partially because she suspected that it was no accident….and yet, Harrison, seemed to have at least partial knowledge of many of these things and more, even once joking that she was a witch. He did it in such a way that it made Fiona feel like he was challenging her, or trying to get her to confess and it bothered her. She saw it as suspicious.

Whatever the case, Fiona decided to do some research on him just to make herself feel better. In the back of her mind; she felt like she was probably being paranoid. She poured herself a glass of bourbon, feeling totally safe in her private office. It was a place hidden behind a library bookshelf. While already concealed, she'd instructed her staff to make sure it remained hidden, specifically from Harrison, and not only that, she'd enchanted the locks so he'd never get in even if he did happen upon it.

"Delphi Trust." She muttered to herself, taking a file she'd had made on Harrison off of her shelf and letting it fall on her desk with loud _slap. _

Fiona lit a cigarette and got comfortable in her chair before opening the file.

"Delphi Trust." She repeated.

The name of the company Harrison owned had always sounded familiar to her, but she'd never really thought about it before other things about Harrison sparked her concern. Fiona began reading the pile of papers and after a while encountered one of the business' logos…it too seemed fairly familiar to her but she couldn't place it.

"Come on, where do I know the name from…?" She asked herself.

Finally, as she delved deeper into the report, which her lawyer (also a witch) had compiled for her. In the same file, she came across some notes from a meeting with the Council, witch she could see mentioned Delphi Trust several times. Fiona's heart began to pound as she started scanning the letter.

"Wi-witch hunters?" She asked, under her breath, she was shocked and ashamed and dropped the letter.

Fiona was mortified but knew what she had to do next. It was time to call the Council, something which she, a dictatorial Supreme, didn't really like to do; especially since that dreaded Myrtle Snow was on it. She paused for a moment, not knowing if she could handle confessing her mistakes to Myrtle, but she quickly realized she had to for the safety of her girls and she picked up the phone.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Fiona looked up when she heard a blood-curdling scream.

"Cordelia!" Fiona yelled, getting up from her chair and rushing toward her daughter's room.


	3. Refige

Ch 3- Refuge

"Mommy! Mommy help!" Cordelia screamed. "Mommyyyy!"

Everything was a haze for Fiona as she quickly left her hidden office, running back toward her daughter's room. Cordelia seldom looked at her these days, much less screamed for her. She didn't even call her Mommy anymore, and so use of the word told Fiona that whatever this was, it was mortally serious. Fiona's steps hastened when she heard Misty start crying too. Her heart plummeted into her stomach; worried that Harrison was beginning to enact his terrible plan, whatever it was, and that he was starting with her babies.

"Mommy!"

"Delia! Delia I'm here, I'm here baby…what are you doing, get your hands off my child!"

Fiona rushed into the room to find something she'd not suspected: the nanny with her hands around her daughter's throat. The woman suddenly let go of Delia and began to protest as the girl fell on her bed, clutching her throat and gasping. Fiona could still hear Misty screaming in the background as her rage began to overtake her.

"You….you…look what you could've done!" Fiona shrilled, her eyes bulging as she scrunched up her fists. The woman flew back hitting the wall, with minimal effort from the Supreme, quickly falling back on the floor with a loud thud.

Cordelia watched, eyes wide as her Mother approached her assailant's dazed frame. Fiona could've done much worse with the sheer power of her mind, but reached out and struck the woman before continuing.

"You like strangling do you, you don't know what strangling is!" Fiona laughed wickedly and narrowed her eyes at the woman.

The Nanny gasped, her hands flying to her throat as she began to choke and kick desperately. Delia jumped, having never seen so much hate in her Mother's, or anyone's eyes. The woman reached out with one hand, trying to beg for her life, and in return, Fiona tightened her grip on the woman's airway.

"Oh yes, you can beg…But I will make an example of you." She informed. "An example for ANYONE." She yelled. "Who lays a hand on my kid."

Harrison, who was listening from outside the door, chuckled to himself.

"Oh Fiona." He said quietly. "You can run but you can not hide."

Moments later the nanny collapsed and Fiona turned to her daughter.

"Oh Delia, Delia are you alright?"

Fiona got on her knees and took her daughter's face gently in her hands. Delia nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks, she looked over at Misty who sucked on her thumb now.

"Oh my girls, my girls its alright. It's okay." She kissed Delia's head as she sat on the bed, taking the girl in her arms and beginning to rock her.

"Sweetheart, did she just grab you did…"

"No…" She fussed. "She does it all the…"

Fiona was livid.

"She what, why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because you weren't there."

"Oh baby." Fiona looked up when she heard a light knock on the door.

"Everything alright in here?" Harrison asked.

"The bitch tried to choke my daughter." Fiona informed.

Fiona could feel herself begin to shake inside, for fear that he would see what she'd done, not by force or by the hand, but by the craft…she sighed, knowing what she had to do now, even though she did not want to go anywhere with him. She kissed Cordelia and then got up and went to Misty.

"Good night girls." She said. "Pierre will be in to drag her out of here in a moment."

Harrison stared down at the body, preparing to say something, but Fiona turned to him with a flirtatious smile and locked her arm with his, leaving her little girls all alone with the body of their abusive nanny. She winked at her trusted butler Pierre, who was in fact, Spaulding's brother, as she led her husband to the sitting room attached to her bedroom. Pierre nodded, rushing quickly to attend to both the mess and the frightened children.

"A night cap darling?" She asked as she shut the door behind them.

"Yes…" He figured he might as well. "Fiona I…"

"Oh just relax Harrison." She teased. "You have a long night ahead of you."

Fiona went to make the drinks, leaving Harrison to sit in front of an already roaring fire. Fiona smirked, looking up carefully to see that he wasn't watching, before she spit in his cup. She knew it would be this easy. She walked over to greet him, sitting on the ottoman that accompanied the chair he occupied. She looked into his eyes and within seconds, he was stupefied, starting straight ahead.

"Drink up darling." She said, handing him the drink. "After all, you wouldn't want to forget a night like tonight. A toast." She paused. "To witches. Long may we live."

"Long may you…live…" Harrison absentmindedly complied with the toast and quickly drank the cocktail full of her spit.

She waited a moment, watching as he returned to full consciousness.

"H-how did I get in here?" He asked.

"You wanted to come in here silly boy." She teased.  
"I-I did?"

He couldn't remember anything, but he'd thought he was going to put one of his plans to attack Fiona and her tiny witches that night…now he was alone with her and she was clearly prepared for an entirely different kind of evening.

"Of course you did." She put down her glass and grabbed him by the tie, pulling him onto his feet. It was the last thing she wanted to do; but it was what she must do. "Well actually." She corrected herself as she began pulling him toward the bedroom by his tie. "It was really in there that you wanted to go…"

…

Fiona woke up before dawn the next morning to find Harrison snoring beside her. She sneered in disgust, but it had worked: that was the most important thing. Fiona wished she could shower but instead got up and went quickly to work, packing a small bag: she could send for the rest. She dressed, not bothering to look at her hair. Time was of the essence and they would be there soon. It was important to be prepared before dawn. Pierre took her bag and Fiona went into her daughter's room, quickly discovering that Misty was nowhere to be found.

"Where's your sister?!"

"I-I don't…"

"Where's my baby?!" Cordelia was startled by the emotion in her Mother's voice whens he asked this and noted she began to shake.

"I…"

"Pierre." She said. "Have Consuela bring down the bags, did you call the…"

"Yes Ma'am."

Pierre had, you see, had been summoned the council the night before. disturbed both by Fiona's murder of the Nanny, and the discovery that the Supreme's new husband was a witch hunter. Knowing this, Fiona had woken early to gather her girls and flee to New Orleans.

…..

"Dadda? Dadda?" Misty asked quietly.

It was the middle of the night and Misty had managed to make her way out of her crib and out the nursery door. The little girl wandered the big house's dark halls aimlessly, crying out for the Father she hadn't seen in months now. Misty did not know it yet; but the man was just beginning to slip from her memory. Eventually his absence would leave a big gap: a void that would leave her with a feeling of loneliness she'd always know intimately, no matter how happy she was. The loss had left her big sister jaded and sarcastic, and for a time, it would leave her Mother broken…that is until another man came along and showed the wicked witch the depths of what true love could be.

"Dadda." She called again. Misty looked around, confused.

"Misty, Misty." Fiona cried. Her urgent whisper echoed through the hall, causing the tot to turn on her heals and face her mother. "Oh my baby there you are."

Fiona got on her knees and hugged Misty, burring her face in her head as she kissed her. Cordelia raised an eyebrow, taken aback by their Mother's sudden affection toward them both. In an odd way it scared her to death because it signified just how much trouble the three of them were in. Delia wanted to say 'I told you so' but refrained. Hank watched from around the corner as Fiona kissed the girls on the sides of their heads repeatedly, disappointed, as he'd been just about to attack the little girl again.

Fiona had been terrified when she'd gone to get her baby out of her crib and found her missing. She and Cordelia had been looking for her at least a half an hour.

"Come on my girls." Fiona whispered, lifting baby Misty into her arms. "We're going to be late."

"Mrs! Mrs!" The maid whispered, hurrying their way despite being weighted down with more bags than Cordelia cared to count.

Neither Fiona nor Delia noticed that Misty turned away, burring her face in Fiona's neck and beginning to whimper when she saw the woman come toward them.

"Mrs! The car you called for is outside, and hurry, I think Mr. Harrison is stirring."

"Okay, come on girls, come on."

Fiona grabbed Delia's hand and the three of them rushed out into the cover of night, the maid keeping excellent pace behind them considering the number of bags she carried. Fiona and the girls quickly piled into a taxi, instead of a private car. Fiona had chosen this route because it would be much more difficult for Harrison to figure out where she had gone. Even though they were traveling to a safe place they needed to buy the time.

"Shu, my girls it's alright." Fiona soothed, pulling Delia's face into her side, her arm wrapped tightly around her.

It started to rain as soon as the car made its way out of the estate's imposing gates and out onto the road. Misty clung to her mother readily, but Delia was uncomfortable. She sat there blinking for a few moments before she finally decided to rest against her mother's chest: she may've been leery of the closeness with her mother but she was also eight years old and tired.

"We're going to New Orleans." Fiona whispered making sure only Cordelia could hear her. "Do you remember…"

"Will we see Auntie Myrtle?!" Delia brightened instantly.

"Yes…yes…." Fiona retched. She'd never understood her daughter's draw to her mortal enemy and had always been upset by it. "Yes Auntie Myrtle will be there..."

…

"But how could you not know you'd married a witch hunter?" Myrtle questioned as the inquiry began. Fiona rolled her eyes.

Delia watched from a great distance, entertained by the tough questions the council was asking her mother. She also wanted to know how and why her mother had not known she'd married a witch hunter, let alone the most notorious of all modern witch-hunters, Harrison Renard.

"Come on girls it's time for bed." Nora whispered.

"Bu-but I'm watching this." Delia complained.

"I'm sorry, but your mother told me eight-thirty on the dot and I'm not about to disobey the supreme. Sorry. Hey come here Misty girl, you want a bedtime story?" Misty squealed and crawled out from the piano into the blonde teen's loving arms. Delia rolled her eyes and followed, still dissatisfied with having to go to bed. "Fine. I'll go." She crossed her arms. "But only because God knows what she'll do to you if we're not in bed."

Fiona and the girls had arrived at Robichaux's mid-morning and met all the girls who lived at the school. Fiona had chosen Nora, a sweet, responsible fifteen-year-old witch with average powers, to help watch the girls, the supreme, after all, could not be there all of the time. The girls took to Nora quickly, the perky teen being a far cry from their abusive nanny back home. Delia didn't realize their maid was also abusive toward baby Misty, and that that was why she loved Fiona so much: she was the only person around who didn't try to hurt her.

Now it was late in the evening and the council had arrived to grill Fiona on her marriage and of course, make plans to protect the coven from the witch hunter she'd unknowingly brought into their midst.

"How stupid." Cordelia spat, her arms crossed defiantly as Nora tucked her in. "I'd never be so stupid as to bring a witch-hunter into the coven."

After a few moments, Nora said goodnight and left the bitter little girl alone to sleep. Delia reached into her drawer and grabbed the picture of her father that she'd taken from her nightstand at home. She kissed her fingertips and then placed them on the image of his handsome face.

"Daddy I'm scared… I wish you were here…" She admitted quietly.

"There you go Misty." Nora sighed. She tucked Misty into the supreme's bed and gave the toddler a little apple juice to sip as she listened to her bedtime story. The baby's blue eyes grew wide as she listened intently to the tale, and neither of the two girls ever noticed they were being watched by a rather debonair figure who seemed to come right out of the walls.

"Goodnight Misty, sweet dreams." Nora kissed the toddler's head, leaving her to fall asleep in her Mother's bed.

Little did she know the little girl was far from tired. Misty lay in bed, her sippy cup in hand as she looked around the room. She was startled when she looked back to her right and saw a man sitting there beside her, her storybook in hand.

"Hello." He said kindly, the softness of his voice putting many of Misty's fears about his sudden appearance to rest.

"Hi!" The toddler giggled delightfully.

The man paused, smiling at the little girl as he looked back at her. He took great joy in meeting her, after all, she belonged to _his_ Fiona and while he knew she'd been born, he'd never seen the child before. He thought she was adorable in an instant and his heart surged, swelling with a desire to love and protect her all his days… just as it once had with her mother. The Axeman felt something different about this child though: he could never grow to love, love her as he had Fiona. This girl would remain a sweetheart all her days, and the Axeman knew in an instant that he'd never look at her and not see the adorable little toddler before him.

"Hello Misty, would you like to hear more of a story?"

"Yeah!" She clapped excitedly.

Misty was very excited, and while the Axeman was happy with this, he would never suspect why. Axey tucked the little girl in again and began to read her her favorite story. Misty sighed, finally growing tired as he read. The little girl had been nervous for weeks and weeks, ever since her father died, and now, sitting here with the famous Axeman of New Orleans, she finally felt some semblance of peace again. She looked up at him, a huge smile on her face even though she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

"You just rest babydoll." He comforted as he began to hum a lullaby to the child. Misty, who was half asleep by this point, grabbed his hand and hugged it. The Axeman paused, touched by the love in the child's gesture.

"Ni- Daddy!" She squealed and he stopped suddenly, realizing the child thought he was her father. He paused for a moment or two, taken aback by the child's words. They hurt him and were precious to him at the same time: he would've loved to have been her father. He was overwhelmed.

"Good night babydoll. Sweet dreams."


End file.
